International League
The International League (IL) is a minor league baseball league which operates in the eastern United States and Canada. Like the Pacific Coast League, it plays at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball. The league was created from the mergers of member teams from three precursor leagues, the Eastern League, founded in 1884, the New York State League, formed in 1885, and the Ontario League, also organized in 1885. The New York State and Ontario Leagues merged in 1886 to form the International League, and in 1887 when the Eastern League was absorbed to create a 10-club league. The league collapsed soon afterwards, when the northern teams claimed that it was too onerous to travel to the south, and formed the International Association. Teams and league names came and went over the years. In 1954, a franchise was awarded to Havana, Cuba, but it had to be moved in the middle of the 1960 season because of political upheaval in that country. It was moved to Jersey City, New Jersey. Another foray into the Caribbean failed when the newly-created team in San Juan, Puerto Rico, added in 1961, had to be moved to Charleston, West Virginia in mid-season. In 1971, an International League all-star team beat the New York Yankees in an exhibition game in Rochester, New York, before 11,000 people. In 1984, the all-stars lost to the Cleveland Indians in 11 innings before 11,032 fans in Columbus, Ohio to commemorate the league's 100th Anniversary. In 1988, the International League and the American Association, another Triple-A league which operated in the Midwest, voted to play interleague games. The league also split into two divisions in the same year. The interleague concept ended in 1992, but the two league divisions remained. In 1998, with the addition of three new teams from the disbanded American Association and the Durham Bulls moving up to Triple-A from Class-A, the league reorganized into three divisions, the North Division, South Division, and West Division. At the end of each season, the three divisional leaders and a wild card team square-off in best-of-5 playoffs, with the winning team of the finals awarded the Governors' Cup, the league's championship trophy. Current Member Teams and Stadiums Current teamsedit] as of July 8, 20013 [[]]North DivisionBisonsRed WingsChiefsRailRidersIronPigsRed SoxSouth DivisionTidesBullsKnightsBravesWest DivisionClippersMud HensIndiansBats See also *List of International League champions *Sports league attendances *Triple-A World Series *Governors' Cup *List of defunct International League teams (1912-) *A list of defunct team from International, Eastern, New York State, International Assn and Eastern Assn teams from 1884 to the present day. (Some data be may be out of date.) International (1886, 1890)(A 1887)(AA 1913-45)(AAA 1946+) Eastern (1884)(A 1892-1908) (AA 1909-11) New York' 'State' (1885) International Assn (A 1888-89) Eastern Assn' (A 1891)' Akron, OH: 1920 Albany, NY: 1885, 1888, 1891-93, 1932-36 Allentown, PA: 1884 Little Rock "Arkansas": 1963 Atlanta, GA: 1962-65 Baltimore, MD: 1903-14, 1916-53 Baltimore/Lancaster, MD/PA: 1884 Baltimore/Harrisburg, MD/PA: 1915 Binghamton, NY: 1885-87, 1892-94, 1918-19 Binghamton/Allentown, NY/PA: 1894 Brooklyn, NY: 1884 Buffalo, NY: 1886-89, 1891-98, 1901-69 Buffalo/Montreal/Grand Rapids, NY/Que/MI: 1890 Buffalo/Winnipeg, NY/Man: 1970 Charleston, WV: 1971-83 Charlotte, NC: 1993+ Columbus, OH: 1955-70, 1977+ Detroit, MI: 1889-90 Elmira, NY: 1885, 1892 Erie, PA: 1893-94 Lawrenceville "Gwinnett County”: 2009 Hamilton, Ont: 1886-89, 1918 Hamilton/Montreal/Grand Rapids, Ont/Que/MI: 1890 Harrisburg, PA: 1884 Harrisburg/York, PA: 1884 Hartford, CT: 1899-1901 Havana, Cuba: 1954-59 Havana/Jersey City, Cuba/NJ: 1960 Indianapolis, IN: 1963 Jacksonville, FL: 1962-68 Jersey City, NJ: 1887, 1902-15, 1918-33, 1937-50, 1961 Lebanon, PA: 1891 Allentown “Lehigh Valley”: 2008-Present London, Ont: 1888-90 Louisville, KY: 1968-72 Portland "Maine": 1984-88 Memphis, TN: 1974-76 Miami, FL: 1956-60 Montreal, Que: 1898-1902, 1904-17, 1928-60 Newark, NJ: 1884, 1887, 1916-19, 1921-49 Newark/Harrisburg, NJ/PA: 1915 Newark/Providence, NJ/RI: 1925 New Haven, CT: 1891-92 Norfolk, VA: 1993+ Oswego, NY: 1885-87 Oswego/Scranton, NY/PA: 1887 Ottawa, Ont: 1951-54, 1993-2007 Pawtucket, RI: 1973-75, 1978+ Hampton "Peninsula": 1972-73 Philadelphia, PA: 1892 Providence, RI: 1891-1917 Reading, PA: 1919-20 Reading/Albany, PA/NY: 1932 Providence “Rhode Island”: 1976 Richmond, VA: 1884, 1915-17, 1954-64, 1966+ Rochester, NY: 1885-89, 1891-92, 1895-96, 1898-Present Rochester/Montreal, NY/Que: 1897 Saginaw, MI: 1890 San Juan/Charleston, P.R./WVA: 1961 Scranton, PA: 1895-97 “Scranton-Wilkes Barre”, PA: 1989+ Springfield, MA: 1893-1900, 1950-53 Syracuse, NY: 1885-89, 1891-92, 1894-1900, 1920-27, 1935-55, 1961-Present Syracuse/Brockton: NY/MA: 1901 Syracuse/Hamilton: NY/Ont: 1918 Syracuse/Utica, NY: 1894 Norfolk “Tidewater”: 1969-92 Toledo, OH: 1889, 1965-Present Toronto, Ont: 1886-90, 1895, 1897-1922, 1924-67 Toronto/Albany, Ont/NY: 1896 Trenton, NJ: 1884 Troy, NY: 1888, 1891-94 Troy/Scranton, NY/PA: 1894 Utica, NY: 1885-87 Wilkes-Barre, PA: 1893-98 Wilmington, DE: 1884 Winnipeg, Man: 1971 Worcester, MA: 1899-1900, 1902 Worcester/Montreal, MA/Que: 1902 External links *International League official site Category:Minor league baseball leagues